Telling the story of the grid

Telling the story of the grid

From Volts by David Roberts

May 15, 2026 · 34 min

About this episode

David Roberts interviews Ben Eidelson and Anay Shah about the history of the US electricity grid and its relevance to current political and technological issues.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.volts.wtf Ben Eidelson and Anay Shah run the Stepchange podcast, which recently put out a magisterial four-hour (!) episode on the history of the US electricity grid. I talk with them about some of the colorful characters and stories involved, the big fights and broad lessons learned, and how the history echoes in today’s political and technological struggles.

People in this episode

Host: David Roberts

Guests: Ben Eidelson, Anay Shah

Topics covered

  • US electricity grid
  • history
  • political struggles
  • technological struggles
  • colorful characters
  • big fights

Keywords

  • electricity grid
  • history
  • politics
  • technology
  • Stepchange
  • interview

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stepchange

Books & works: Telling the story of the grid

More episodes of Volts

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Volts podcast page.